Italy's Conte Says Brussels Migration Plan 'important Step'

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday a European Commission proposal to share responsibility for migrants was an "important step" towards a "truly EU migration policy".

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Sep, 2020 ) :Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday a European Commission proposal to share responsibility for migrants was an "important step" towards a "truly EU migration policy".

Brussels has launched an effort to rally sceptical member states around a plan to better share responsibility for settling refugees and sending rejected asylum seekers home.

The long-awaited proposal for a "New Pact on Migration and Asylum" comes two weeks after a devastating fire in an overcrowded camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, and five years after Europe's last major migrant crisis.

"The Migration Pact is an important step towards a truly EU migration policy," Conte wrote on Twitter.

The "EU Council must achieve a true balance of solidarity and responsibility. Assurance on returns and relocation is needed: Countries of first arrival cannot manage alone migration flows in name of Europe," he said.

The proposal suggests that EU member states that do not want to volunteer to house more migrants -- and reduce pressure on Italy and Greece, where most arrivals land -- can instead take charge of sending those whose asylum requests are rejected back to their homelands.

The proposal disappointed migrants' rights activists and refugee agencies, who had hoped for compulsory quotas for refugee settlement and an end to a "Fortress Europe" ringed by squalid refugee camps.